SOUNDS AROUND TOWN: X-Man John Doe goes solo at Club Passim

Tuesday

Feb 21, 2017 at 8:37 PMFeb 21, 2017 at 8:37 PM

By Ed Symkus, Daily News Correspondent

Well before John Doe joined forces with Exene Cervenka to form the LA punk band X in 1977, he lived in Baltimore, listened to folk, pop, country and soul music on the radio, and played bass in a rock cover band. Though X, making fierce yet quite polished and melodic punk music, never had a bona fide hit, their popularity grew quickly. Their first four albums were produced by Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and they even had a couple of appearances on “American Bandstand.” Though they officially broke up in the late 1980s, the band still gets together for brief tours. But around 1986 Doe started doing solo shows, switching from bass to guitar, and performing not just acousticized X songs, but also originals that harkened back to the folk and country roots he had picked up years earlier. He’ll be doing some of both, along with songs from his 2016 album “The Westerner” when he plays a solo gig at Club Passim on February 27.

Doe, speaking by phone from his home near San Francisco, admitted that while he often brings a band with him for his current non-X shows, he rather enjoys getting onstage alone.

“It’s not a whole different thing from being with a band, but you have to embrace the intimacy and the vulnerability of the way it’s set up,” he said. “If you don’t, then you can get kind of freaked out or scared. And that’s usually not good. Also, when you’re doing the solo stuff, you don’t have guitar players or the power of the band, which could be good, because sometimes it’s like, ‘Can you guys just shut up, so people can hear the song?’ This way the songs are also shorter and more to the point. But it can be scary, and I think it’s a good thing to have that vulnerability, and being so naked up there. You know, you could fall off that edge a little bit easier. But you could also do songs that you don’t have to teach the whole band, songs that you might remember.”

Yet he still enjoys playing with X and has fond memories of his X days, and of the political bent of the old punk scene. Asked if, with today’s political climate, he thinks rock music might come around with a new surge of rebellion, he was quiet for a moment, then said, “I would hope so. Why not! I’ve never written overtly political songs; Exene wrote the lyrics to [the political X songs] ‘I Must not Think Bad Thoughts’ and ‘The New World.’ I’m a believer in the social politics, the way you behave, the way you spend your money ... that’s the best politics. I’m not a fan of what’s going on right now, but I was around when Reagan got elected, and things got bad, then got better-ish.

“I liked the idea of Barack Obama, but I didn’t necessarily like what he did, as far as deporting people and dropping bombs and more drone strikes,” he added. “Trump is just more overt about it, but he’s not smart. That’s the thing that bums me out the most. He doesn’t have the intellect. I did write most of the [political X song] ‘See How We Are,’ so there’s a way of bringing politics into a song that’s a little more artistic, a little sneakier than just saying, ‘Donald Trump is an idiot.’ ”

Doe isn’t sure of what will be on his set list at Passim, but said there’s a good chance that some of those political songs will be performed. When he takes the stage with both his Guild acoustic and Guild electric guitars, the plan will be to “do some X songs, do some Doe songs, do some covers.

“I do a few covers,” he said. “Depending on how much love is in the crowd, on how many people are in love in the crowd, I might do Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You.’ ”

But the burning question revolves around the fact that after 40 years, X – Doe, Exene, Billy Zoom, and D.J. Bonebrake – still exists as a band. So, will there one day be a new X album?

“Probably not,” said Doe. “And the reason is because it’s complicated. I’d sure like to do one, and Exene and I are going to do some duo shows this summer, so who knows.

John Doe plays at Club Passim in Cambridge on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Tickets: $25. Info: 617-492-7679.

Upcoming concerts and club dates

Feb. 24:

Singer-songwriter Rose Cousins brings along a full band to celebrate the release of her new CD “Natural Conclusion” over two nights at Club Passim in Cambridge. (Feb. 24: 7 p.m.; Feb. 25: 5 and 8 p.m.)

Feb. 25:

Sugar Ray and the Blue Tones will play all sorts of blues at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham. (8 p.m.)

Chris Brubeck, on piano, bass, and trombone, fronts his jazz/blues trio Triple Play at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. (8 p.m.)

The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble returns to the Regattabar in Cambridge with their Northeast version of a Mardi Gras party, joined by guests saxophonist Charles Neville and New Orleans vocalist Henri Smith. (7:30 p.m.)

March 2:

The Joe Lovano (tenor sax) and Dave Douglas (trumpet) Quintet hits the stage of the Regattabar in Cambridge for two sets. (7:30 and 10 p.m.)